Feds offer NM counties $1M to address water contamination from flooding

Northern New Mexico residents who recently suffered drinking water contamination due to the 2022 Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire can now receive funding for repairs or a treatment system from the federal Agriculture Department, according to U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.)

Leger Fernández, in a post on social media this week, said the United States Department of Agriculture has agreed to provide up to $1 million to address the post-fire water contamination discovered last fall in the Mora and San Miguel county areas.

“We are grateful that USDA listened to your calls and our requests,” Leger Fernández said. “They found the money so that you can drink water in your home, knowing it’s been tested and filtered.”

The 2022 Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire, which started due to two botched prescribed burns, destroyed hundreds of homes and several hundred thousand acres of property. It also ushered in severe post-fire flooding and, last summer, an independent geologist discovered elevated levels of heavy metals — including antimony, uranium and arsenic — in private drinking water wells.

The discovery prompted a state Health Department public health advisory, as well as renewed rounds of state testing, which remain ongoing. 

“If your water already tested positive for contamination, you may qualify for help right now,” Leger Fernández said. 

In the social media post, Leger Fernández sends viewers to a USDA website with more information. That website also lists the 2024 South Fork and Salt Fire in the Ruidoso area, as well as Chaves County flooding later that year, as qualifying disasters. 

The USDA’s Rural Development Single Family Housing Disaster Grant program is overseeing the program. Recipients must meet income requirements, according to the USDA.